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Gore outlines anti-crime agenda
July 12, 1999 BOSTON (AllPolitics, July 12) -- Vice President Al Gore laid out an anti-crime agenda Monday that includes several new gun control initiatives and a promised constitutional amendment for victims' rights. In outlining what his crime policy would be as president, he trumpeted the failing crimes rates that have taken place during the Clinton-Gore Administration but said there was more to do as the nation enters a new century. Speaking at the Boston Police Department, Gore said he would revolutionize a criminal justice system that he said puts half a million unrepentant, unrehabilitated and drug- or alcohol-addicted prisoners back on the streets each year. These "walking time-bombs of violence" pose a danger to families and children, he said.
"I will revolutionize a court system that is overloaded and understaffed and that often seems less like 'law and order' and more like 'let's make a deal,'" he said. "It's time to put the rights of victims and families first again." The most far-reaching proposals deal with gun control. School shootings this year in Littleton, Colorado, and Conyers, Georgia, have made gun control a major issue in the 2000 presidential campaign. Gore's proposals include photo licenses for all new handgun owners, and a ban on cheap handguns. "It is too easy for a child to get a gun and there are too many political leaders who take their marching orders from the gun lobby," Gore said. "Let's create a family lobby that is greater and more powerful than the gun lobby." Cheap, easily concealed handguns, known as "junk guns" or "Saturday night specials," would be banned under Gore's proposal. The junk-gun industry traces its roots to a crackdown on handguns that followed the June 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy by Sirhan Sirhan, who used a European-made .22-caliber revolver. Until then, most cheap handguns sold in the United States were made overseas. Congress then banned the import of such weapons but did not outlaw their manufacture in this country. Current federal law bans semiautomatic rifles equipped with detachable magazines and similar guidelines are imposed on handguns and shotguns. Gore also wants tougher penalties for gun trafficking. The vice president has already said he supports raising the age for handgun possession from 18 to 21; barring juveniles from possessing assault weapons or large-capacity ammunition clips; imposing new penalties for adults who sell guns to minors; and requiring safety locks on guns. Gore did give a cost for his proposals and it is questionable that his gun-control proposals would be approved by Congress. The vice president cast a tie-breaking vote in May when the Senate passed legislation expanding a system of background checks on firearms purchases so they would cover all such buys at gun shows and pawnshops. His campaign hoped Gore's vote and the publicity surrounding it would add momentum to his campaign. But political wrangling between Democrats and Republicans killed a House gun-control bill in June. Bill Bradley, Gore's only announced opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, has put forth his own gun-control plan, including a proposal that all handguns be registered and a ban on the manufacture and sale of cheap handguns. Gore's anti-crime plan includes more federal money for the nation's court system and a requirement that criminal defendants pledge to get off drugs if they want to stay out of jail. A "Stay Clean to Stay Out" policy would require defendants in drug-related crimes who are awaiting trial to get off drugs to stay out of jail. Criminals on parole also would have to stay off drugs to stay out of jail, under the proposed policy. "Let's make prisoners a simple deal: Before you get out of jail, you have to get clean and if you want to stay out, then you better stay clean," Gore said. Gore also implicitly criticized Texas Gov. George Bush on the issue of hate crimes. Bush, the front-runner in the GOP presidential race, opposed a hate crimes bill introduced in the Texas Legislature. Gore said he did not understand "some who still deny hate crimes merit stiffer punishment" and urged Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. "When a killer on the rampage picks Jew, blacks and Asian-Americans as his victims, I do not understand how some can still argue that hate crimes are no different from all other crimes. They are different. They are often among the most vicious and violent crimes and more serious still is the fact that their very purpose is to dehumanize and stigmatize, not only to wound the victim but also to distort the American conscience." He also proposed tougher penalties for those who commit crimes in front of children. "If you commit violent crime in front of a child, you should pay an even higher price for it, more time in jail, because you have traumatized a child, because you have started a cycle of violence," he said. Gore also criticized Republicans for not confirming nominees to federal judgeships, saying there are 72 empty seats on the federal bench. "Yet instead of confirming highly qualified nominees, the Republican Senate continues to hold our system of justice hostage. So I say to Senate, if you are really serious about protecting America's families, then stop playing politics with our federal courts," he said. "Confirm these judges and put them to work." Gore also said he would support the increasing use of computers in law enforcement, funding software that community police could use to map and target high-crime areas. "Those who know what crime mapping is all about and how startlingly effective it is when it is used correctly, know this will make a huge difference," he said. Other features of the anti-crime package include establishment of "gang-free zones," more aid for professional development and retraining of police officers and increased spending on after-school programs for youths and anti-drug efforts. Gore also promised to ban racial profiling, the police practice to use racial profiles to decide which motorists to pull over. "If I'm elected president, the banning of racial profiling will be the first civil rights action of the new century," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Monday, July 12, 1999
• Smith: Leaving GOP 'on principle' • Gore outlines anti-crime agenda • Kasich may leave GOP presidential race • Clinton, GOP to hold tax summit • Hillary Clinton to hold first fund-raising event • Kentucky Democrats lose state Senate majority for first time • Architect cited for serious violations in Library of Congress fire • Chief Justice solves newspaper's riddle • Moynihan expected to back Bradley • Birmingham's first black mayor departing after 20 years • Washington Yesterday: Hillary Clinton and history's carpetbag • Lott predicts U.N. envoy will be approved despite holds • Unusual PAC gives Bradley a guerrilla campaign network • GOP presidential hopefuls denounce attack on Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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